I was born in Ann Arbor, MI in 1939. After receiving
a B. S. degree in Astronomy from the University of Michigan
in 1961 I joined the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory's Radio Astronomy
Branch (Washington, D.C.) and conducted studies of Jupiter. In
1963 I joined Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and for two years
conducted microwave investigations of the moon. I worked briefly at
Cornell University's Arecibo Ionospheric Observatory, in Puerto
Rico. After returning to JPL's Space Sciences
Division, I resumed planetary radio astronomy investigations of the
moon and planets. During the remaining 33 years of my employment by
Caltech and assignment to JPL my career underwent transitions from radio
astronomy to boundary layer meteorology, then aviation safety, and
finally atmospheric science of the stratosphere (with contributions to
understanding the "ozone hole"). I retired from JPL in 1998, continued to
work part-time for two years, then transitioned to a consulting arrangement
that lasted 10 years. Additional consulting included Rockwell International
(2 years), Dryden Flight Research Center (2 years), Caltech (2 years) and
Vanderbilt University (3 years). With my private
observatory in Hereford, AZ (pictured below) I became one of the first amateurs to observe exoplanet transits,
and created the Amateur Exoplanet Archive to accept and preserve transit
observations by amateurs throughout the world; the ~640 transits in AXA have
been added to Caltech's archive of professional exoplanet transit observations
(IPAC/NStED). I continue to initiate and coordinate international teams of
amateur astronomers for specific observations that support professional astronomy
goals.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Planetary Radio Astronomy

From 1964 to 1972 I used radio telescopes throughout the
world to construct radiometric maps of the moon at a variety
of wavelengths and lunar phases. This work remains unsurpassed
in quality and comprehensiveness to this day. Analysis of these
maps showed that the thermophysical and electrical properties of the
uppermost few centimeters of the lunar regolith are very similar over
the entire near-side of the moon (with the one exception of greater
ilmenite content in Mare Tranquilitatis). These results still provide
the strongest argument for generalizing Apollo in situ findings.

In 1968 I accepted leadership of JPL's Radio Astronomy Group. I wrote
the software for controlling the 18-foot radio telescope at Table Mountain
Radio Observatory, performed pointing and antenna property calibrations and
assisted in development of a 36 GHz two-element radio interferometer at TMO.
One fateful day a lightning strike of the antenna destroyed the computer
and other equipment that was needed for a long-planned monitoring program
of Venus, and by coincidence this signalled a shift in my interests toward
the use of portable ground-based systems for studying the atmosphere.

Ground-Based Atmospheric Science (Boundary
Layer)

In 1975 I joined JPL's Observational Systems Division
and began applying radio astronomy remote sensing techniques to the study
of atmospheric science problems. This transition away from radio astronomy
led to principal investigator leadership for 41 field experiments
using ground-based and airborne microwave remote sensor systems.

I supervised the development of ground-based instruments
for use in the study of spatial and temporal properties of line-of-sight
contents of atmospheric water vapor and cloud liquid water. Ground-based
passive microwave systems were also developed for obtaining air
temperature profiles. I pioneered in developing calibration techniques
(including "tip curves") for water vapor radiometers as well as
in the optimum use of combined mulit-frequency / multi-angle temperature
profilers. These radiometer systems were used in a variety of
studies, including pollution dispersion (mixing layer depth), stratus
cloud formation and evolution (in collaboration with UCLA), demonstration
of aviation icing hazard warnings near airports (Buffalo, NY), and
numerous performance demonstrations that used radiosondes for validation.

Airborne Atmospheric Science (Microwave Temperature Profiler)

I led the development and flight of the first airborne
Microwave Temperature Profiler, MTP, in support of a 1978
study of clear air turbulence, CAT. Additional CAT studies were
conducted using an improved temperature profiler installed in NASA's
C-141 aircraft (Kuiper Airborne Observatory). An instrument with further
improvements was installed in NASA's ER-2 aircraft and was used in
the 1987 Stratospheric-Tropospheric Exchange Project, STEP. Six
months later, the ER-2 Microwave Temperature Profiler was one
of 25 instruments participating in the first NASA-coordinated international
airborne investigation of stratospheric ozone depletion, the
Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment, AAOE (Punta Arenas, Chile, 1987).
The MTP instrument, in addition to providing mesoscale meteorology
context for in situ measurements during this mission, also discovered
that Antarctic mountain waves extend above the tropopause and throughout
the region of ozone destruction, and provide a mechanism to enhance
"polar stratospheric cloud" (PSC) formation, which is a crucial
step in the process for the destruction of stratospheric ozone.

The same MTP was used during the 1989 Airborne Arctic
Science Experiment, AASE I, based in Norway, during which I discovered
that air parcel trajectories exhibit vertical "wrinkles" and therefore air
parcels experience fluctuations in temperature. This discovery has implications
for the understanding of PSC formation and evolution. During AASE II
(Norway, Alaska, Maine 1991/92), MTP instruments were flown aboard both participating
NASA aircraft, the DC-8 and an ER-2. The MTP flew on 49 ER-2
flights during the Airborne Southern Hemisphere Ozone Experiment/Measurements
for Assessing the Effects of Stratospheric Aircraft, ASHOE/MAESA,
based in New Zealand and Hawaii, throughout 1994, which led to
studies of tracer filament temperature signature anomalies. The
MTP also flew during the ER-2 Stratospheric Tracers of Atmospheric
Transport, STRAT flights of 1995 and 1996, which were based in California
and Hawaii. The DC-8 MTP flew during the 1995 and 1996 Tropical
Ozone Transport Experiment/Vortex Ozone Transport Experiment, TOTE/VOTE,
based in Hawaii, Alaska, Iceland and California. These flights have
provided intriguing new information on meridional circulation.

An improved DC-8 MTP flew during the 1996 Subsonic Aircraft
Contrail and Cloud Effects Study, SUCCESS, flights based in
Kansas. These data were used to derive the first-ever 2-D
isentrope topography for a mountain wave event over Colorado,
allowing for quantification of cooling and heating histories of
air parcels associated with lee wave clouds. During 1997 the ER-2
MTP participated in each of the 3 Photochemistry of Ozone Loss in
the Arctic Region in Summer, POLARIS, campaigns, based in Fairbanks,
AK. Isentrope surfaces were found to be surprisingly smooth for this
season and latitude, which inspired a comprehensive study showing that
the amplitude of mesoscale vertical motions in the startosphere can be
predicted from four independent variables: latitude, season, altitude
and underlying topography (two article links below).

The DC-8 MTP was used in the Fall of 1997 for the SASS
Ozone and Nitrogen Oxides Experiment, SONEX, based in Ireland
and Bangor, ME, for the study of atmospheric chemistry impacts
of subsonic aircraft. The ER-2 MTP was flown in an Air Force WB-57F
during the Spring of 1998 for the Water Aerosol Mission, WAM, based
in Texas. Dr. Mahoney was co-investigator for the last two experiments.
I discontinued full-time employment from JPL on September
25, 1998, and for two years was employed by Caltech's JPL as an "on-call"
employee for the purpose of providing occasional assistance to Dr.
Mahoney, who is now the MTP Principal Investigator. From 2000 - 2010
I was a consultant for JPL in continued support of airborne MTP projects.

POST-RETIREMENT ACTIVITIES

Retirement has afforded me the opportunity to return to a
childhood hobby of amateur astronomy, starting in 1999. In 2004
I became a member of a professional/amateur astronomy collaboration
that has so far discovered five exoplanets (XO-1b to XO-5b). As far
as I know I'm the only amateur doing all-sky photometry (transferring
calibration from a standard star field in one part of the sky to a
distant one needing calibration). This capability has been helpful on
numerous collaborations with professionals (6 times for my role in
supporting exoplanet discoveries). Some of my radio astronomy experience
and various remote sensing projects before retirement have been useful
with the astronomy hobby, and my rate of publications after retirement
is similar to before: 25 publications since retirement (19 peer-reviewed
in astronomy, 3 peer-reviewed in the atmospheric sciences and 5 non-peer
reviewed books on miscellaneous topics). Im 2007 I created the Amateur
Exoplanet Archive, AXA, which
was the only public domain site for archiving amateur observations of
exoplanet transits until the Czech Republic created a similar site in
2009 modeled on the AXA (the AXA was discontinued 2009 December).

"Writing" is another of my hobbies. I enjoy creating tutorial
web pages for other amateurs wanting to improve their observing and
data analysis techniques. I've self-published two editions of a book
on this subject, Exoplanet
Observing for Amateurs (the first edition was accepted for publication
by Springer, which I declined due to concerns I had with their business
model). This book is now out-of-print but available as a free PDF download).
I've self-published five other books and have one more book manuscript
half written. Each person at my age must have an opinion about their most
important lifetime achievement, and few people would guess mine: it's
not my developement of the Microwave Temperature Profiler, or my 4 patents,
or my 60 peer-reviewed publications, or my participation in the high-profile
international stratospheric "ozone hole" campaigns, or my definitive
characterization of mesoscale stratospheric temperature fluctuations,
or my role in supporting the discovery of transiting exoplanets - it's
my book Genetic Enslavement: A Call to Arms for Individual Liberation
(four editions: 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011). This book is a product of sociobiology
speculations that began in 1963, before the field had a name. It is my
proudest achievement, and the only one that may have lasting value,
whether or not it achieves any public recognition. Since it is a critical
look at the evolutionary origins of human nature, and portrays human
foibles from the perspective of a reluctant misanthrope, it has no
commercial prospects.